KENNY ANDERSON, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist from Edinburgh, has been elevated to the status of "priority fighter" by Frank Warren, his Sports Network promoter, after claiming he was a victim of neglect.
Anderson, who will have his eighth professional bout in 25 months on a Braveheart Promotions bill at Paisley's Lagoon Leisure Centre this evening, against Latvian Jevgenjis Andrejevs, revealed yesterday that he made his feelings clear during a recent meeting with Warren. And, having vented his frustrations, the 25-year-old is satisfied that his career is now headed in a more positive direction.
The super-middleweight said: "I believe I am close to the stage of fighting for the British or Commonwealth title. It appears that I will be fighting again in November and December and being a bit more active over the next three months will help me achieve my aim.
"Frank says that he intends keeping me busy after stressing that I am one of his priority fighters. Prior to our meeting I felt as if I was at the back of the queue and that I was being neglected, to be honest. I told Frank that I did not feel I was getting the rewards for all the hard work I was putting in and he agreed that there had been an absence of promotional work to push me to the forefront because of various changes that had taken place.
"I came away with a gentleman's agreement that things would be different in future and that is good enough for me. But there must be no slip-ups against Andrejevs. Losing is not an option."
Anderson insists that he is in no way jealous of fellow Scot Stevie McGuire who will contest the British super-middleweight crown against Brian Magee on December 9 in Manchester. But he added: "I would like to think that I will be given the opportunity to challenge the winner."
Tonight's show will also feature Willie Limond, the IBO Intercontinental lightweight champion, in a catchweight contest against Englishman Matt Scrivens. Limond has until December 29 to make a mandatory title defence. Jason Hastie, the undefeated featherweight form Edinburgh, will also make an appearance in Paisley, although it was still unclear last night who he will face.
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